The Alchemy of Happiness : by Mohammed Al Ghazzali. 

 Chapter I. — On knowledge of the soul, and how knowledge op 



THE SOUL IS THE KEY TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 



seeker after the divine mysteries ! know thou that 

 the door to the knowledge of God will be opened to a man 

 first of all, when he knows his own soul, and understands 

 the truth about his own spirit, according as it has been re- 

 vealed, " he who knows himself knows his Lord also." And 

 God proclaims in his holy book : u We will display our 

 miracles in the different countries of the world, till it shall 

 be demonstrated to them that the Koran is the truth/' 1 

 that is, let us show men in the visible world, and in their 

 own souls, the wonderfulness of our works and the perfec- 

 tion of our power, that they may learn to know that the 

 Lord God is Almighty and true, and that everything else 

 besides is vanity. 



O seeker of the mysteries ! since there is nothing nearer 

 to thee than thyself, and that still with thy soul alone, thou 

 canst not discriminate anything, and art impotent to find 

 out and know thyself, in what way canst thou become ac- 

 quainted with anything else, and with that which is even 

 separate from thyself? And how should'st thou be able to 

 comprehend God, who in his nature cannot be compre- 

 hended, and of whose absolute essence it is not possible 

 to give thee any explanation. If thou should'st say, " I 

 perfectly know myself," we reply, that we have no doubt 

 that what you are acquainted with is your own hand and 

 foot, with your eye and mouth, and animals even have this 

 kind of knowledge. You know also that if you are hun- 



1 Sura 41 : 53. 



